Bryant Basketball
March 11, 2007
BULLDOGS FACE SAINT ROSE TODAY IN NCAA REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Game Notes
For the third time in the last four years, Bryant will advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals. The Bulldogs will face second-seed Saint Rose at 5 p.m. at Bentley's Dana Center ... Bryant is 2-0 in regional semifinals, defeating NYIT in Lowell, Mass. back in 2004 and defeating Bloomfield in the regional semifinals in Waltham, Mass. in 2005 during Bryant's run to the NCAA Elite Eight ... The Bulldogs earned their trip to the round of 32 with a 77-55 win over sixth-seed Adelphi in first round action Saturday ... One week after scoring a career-high 16 in a conference semifinal loss to Bentley (Mar. 1), sophomore Orlando Baeza scored a career-high 25 points to lead Bryant back from a 36-33 halftime deficit for the win ... Sunday's winner between Bryant and Saint Rose will advance to the regional championship Tuesday night scheduled for 7 p.m.
BRYANT HOLDS ADELPHI TO THREE BASKETS IN SECOND HALF OF
QUARTERFINAL
Adelphi, which made 8 of its first 12 shots in Saturday's
quarterfinal, made just 3 of 29 shots (10.3 percent) in the second
half and was 0-for-16 from three-point range.
BULLDOGS KNOCK DOWN THE FREE THROWS
Sometimes it's the little things that make the
difference. After failing to get to the foul line in the
first half, Bryant made 19 of 22 free throws in the second half of
Saturday's win over Adelphi. Burns, Baeza, and Ezeokoli all
combined to go a perfect 16 for 16 from the line.
BRYANT - SAINT ROSE MATCHUP EARLIER THIS YEAR - Bryant
72-Saint Rose 71 (Jan. 6, 2007)
Jerrann Wright scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds
as Bryant held on for a 72-71 win over Saint Rose at the Chace
Center in Smithfield, RI back on January 6. It was the only
meeting of the year between the two teams. Clayton Longmire
had 17 while Steve Dagostino had 14 points for Saint Rose.
Wright was 7 for 9 from the floor in the game. Saint Rose
came into the game ranked No. 20 nationally and winners of
six-straight.
2007 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional @ Waltham,
Mass.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
No. 3 Bryant (19-10) vs. No. 6 Adelphi (18-12),
- Bryant 77-55
No. 2 Saint Rose (21-9) vs. No. 7 Pace (20-12), Saint Rose
87-71
No. 1 Bentley (29-0) vs. No. 8 Caldwell (19-11), 6:00 pm
No. 4 Bridgeport (21-8) vs. No. 5 Philadelphia (20-9), 8:30 pm
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Bryant vs. Saint Rose, 5:00 pm
Bentley / Caldwell winner vs. Bridgeport / Philadelphia winner,
7:30 pm
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Regional Championship, 7 pm
NCAA EXPERIENCE
This is the fourth appearance in the NCAA
tournament for seniors Chris Burns and
Nate Sudlow. The two played in the Lowell regional
as freshmen in 2004. Senior Dan Hammond did
not play that year but has played in the NCAA tournament the last
two seasons. This regional will be his third. Jon
Ezeokoli will also be making his third NCAA appearance.
BRYANT VS. TOURNAMENT FIELD FOR 2007
Bryant is 3-4 against the tournament field this
year, playing all seven teams with the exception of Adelphi and
Caldwell. Bryant fell to Bentley three times and Philadelphia
in the first game of the season.
Philadelphia Nov. 15 63-85 L (Away)
Bentley Dec. 5 49-61 L (Away)
Feb. 3 76-78 L (Home)
Mar. 1 74-85 L (Away)
Bridgeport Dec. 30 64-57 W (Home)
Saint Rose Jan. 6 72-71 W (Home)
Pace Jan. 11 80-72 W (Home)
BRYANT IN NCAA TOURANMENT
This is Bryant's sixth trip to the NCAA
tournament and fourth in a row. The Bulldogs are 8-7 in five
postseason appearances all-time and 8-3 in NCAA
tournament play under coach Max Good. In March of
2004, Good led the Bulldogs back into the NCAA tournament after a
23 year hiatus. As the No. 7 seed, the Bulldogs proceeded to
knock off CW Post and NYIT before falling to host UMass Lowell on a
last-second shot by Elad Inbar. The following year, Bryant
the No. 6 seed, again reached the regional final and proceeded to
knock off host and top-seed Bentley to advance to the Elite
Eight. Last season, Bryant, the No. 3 seed, fell to UMass
Lowell in the first round in Easton, Mass.
BRYANT IN NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES (8-7, 8-3 Under Coach Good)
1978
vs.
Merrimack
91-116 L
vs. Bridgeport
85-89 L
1980
vs. Springfield
78-91 L
vs.
Quinnipiac
97-102 L
2004 @ Lowell, Mass. (#7 Seed)
vs. C.W. Post
65-63 W
vs.
NYIT
64-60 W
vs. UMass
Lowell
62-63 L
2005 @ Waltham, Mass (No. 6 seed)
vs.
Adelphi
69-48 W
vs.
Bloomfield
76-59 W
vs.
Bentley
74-64 W
NCAA Elite Eight
vs. Mount
Olive
84-69 W
vs. Tarleton
St.
60-55 W
vs. Virginia
Union
58-63 L
2006 @ Easton, Mass. (No. 3 seed)
vs. UMass
Lowell
63-77 L
2007 @ Waltham, Mass. (No. 3 seed)
vs. No. 6
Adelphi
77-55 W
SAINT ROSE
Adelphi earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament by
way of earning the automatic bid by winning the East Coast
Conference (formerly NYCAC) championship, 61-58 over C.W.
Post. Kimani Blaize scored 27 points including two free
throws in the final five seconds to give the Panthers their
second-straight conference title.
SENIORS HAVE .695 WINNING PERCENTAGE
Bryant's senior class of Chris Burns
(Merrimack, NH), Dan Hammond (Brunswick,
Maine), Nate Sudlow (Brooklyn,
NY) have been involved in more than 80 wins during their
four year careers. The trio bring a combined record of 89-39
(.695) the week.
STORY LINES
* Chris Burns is ranked 11th nationally last week with 3.6 three-point field goals per game average. The senior has a career-best 109 three's this season which is THIRD-best in school history. The school record is 119 held by John Williams in 2004-05.
* A Bryant win would be the 21st this season, matching last year's final record of 21-10.
* A Bryant win would be coach Max Good's 114th at Bryant and 223rd overall.
* Bryant is 7-9 away from home and 3-2 on neutral courts.
* Chris Burns is 10th in the conference in scoring this year with 15.5 ppg. Burns leads the conference in three-pointers per game (3.62 three's per game) and second with 109 three's made..
WINNING WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
Max Good's Bulldogs have found success in the winter months leading up to conference and NCAA playoff time. The Bulldogs, who have advanced to four-straight NCAA Championships, were 7-2 in the month of January. Since the 2003-04 season, Bryant has a 27-13 record in the month of January and 22-9 record in the month of February. Last year, Bryant was 8-1 in February.
Since 2003-04:
Record in January - 27-13
Record in February - 22-9
BURNS HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH)
racked up a career-best 36 points in Bryant's win at Southern
Connecticut on Feb.17. It was the third time this year Burns
scored more than 30 after stellar back-to-back nights of 31 against
Pace and Stonehill in January. The 36 points ties him for sixth for
most points in a game with two other players (Noel Watson and Jason
Bennett who reached the mark twice). The record for points in
a game is 53 by Dave Sorafine in 1976.
Three-point field goals in a season:
1. John
Williams
119
2004-05
2. John Williams
115
2005-06
3. Chris Burns
109
2006-07
Career Three-point field goals
1. John
Williams
323
2002-05
2. Jason
Bennett
295
1998-00
3. Chris
Burns
278
2003-present
WINNING WAYS
Thanks to Saturday's NCAA win over Adelphi,
Bryant has now posted four-straight 20-win seasons in five seasons
under Max Good. The Bulldogs have qualified for
four-straight NCAA tournaments, going 23-10 in 2003-04 while
following with a 25-9 campaign in 2004-05, reaching the NCAA
Division II Championship game in March of '05. Last year, Bryant
went 21-10. This year, Bryant is 20-10.
ALL CONFERENCE
Senior guard Chris Burns was
named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team. Teammate
and junior forward Jon Ezeokoli was named third team
all-conference. While this is the first all-conference honor
for Ezeokoli, Burns was named the conference Freshman of the Year
in 2004. This is the second first team honor in a row for
Bryant with John Williams earning first team and co-player of the
year honors last season.
GOOD MOVES PAST REILLY FOR THIRD
Head Coach Max Good is in his sixth
season at the helm of the Bryant basketball team. In the win
over Southern Connecticut, Good passed Ed Reilly for coaching
victories at Bryant. During his five seasons, Good has led
the Bulldogs to four-straight 20-win seasons (including this year)
and four consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament- highlighted by a
trip to the national championship game in March of 2005 where the
Bulldogs fell to Virginia Union by five. Good has a record of
113-72 while at Bryant and
222-210 during 15 seasons as a head coach, having
previously coached at UNLV and Eastern Kentucky.
Bryant's Coaching Victories
1. Tom Foliard 174
(1968-78, 174-88)
2. Leon Drury
126 (1978-89,
126-182)
3. Max Good 113
(2001-present, 113-72)
4. Ed Reilly
109 (1989-01,
109-209)
NCAA FIRST ROUND SUMMARY
Bulldogs Defeat Adelphi 77-55 Saturday in NCAA
First Round
Sophomore guard Orlando Baeza (Palmdale, Calif.) scored a career-high 25 points and Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, NJ) scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half to lead the Bryant men's basketball team to a 77-55 win over Adelphi in quarterfinal round action of the 2007 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional Championship at the Dana Center.
Things didn't look good early for the third-seeded Bulldogs who are making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. Bryant struggled out of the gate offensively while Adelphi came out blazing. Furthering Bryant's early troubles was early foul trouble as forwards Jerrann Wright (Cincinnati, OH) and Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) each picked up two quick fouls in the first four minutes and coach Max Good had to go to his bench early.
Bryant (20-10) fell behind by as much as 13 as Adelphi used a deadly perimeter attack from the outside to jump out in front 22-9 after a Samuel Jenkins three-pointer with 11:46 left. Adelphi (18-13), the No. 6 seed, would make eight of its first 12 shots from the floor - including four from long range.
Bryant would finally shrug off perhaps a little rust from a nine-day layoff, as senior Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH) and Ezeokoli helped kick start an 11-4 Bulldog run with consecutive three-point field goals, cutting the Adelphi lead in half, 26-20.
A high bank shot off the glass by Baeza made it a one-point game, 34-33 with two minutes to play before halftime.
In the second half, Bryant would pull even with the Panthers thanks to a three from Burns at the top of the key. After a pair of free throws by Adelphi center Mike Mosby (15 points, 11 rebounds), Burns would put Bryant ahead for the first time since the early minute of the game with a three pointer to make it 41-40 Bryant with 16:34 left.
Bryant would not let up, as the Bulldogs dominated play throughout the second half, using a 23-8 run to take a commanding 56-44 lead. Just as Adelphi was red-hot from the floor in the first half, the Panthers missed their first eight shots of the second half and made just three baskets from the floor in the second half, shooting a dismal 10 percent from field and 27 percent for the game.
